Kraivshchyna

St. Michael Orthodox Church

Kraivshchyna Village (476 residents), Volodarsk-Volynsky Region, is located on the high left bank of Irshytsia River. It was founded in the second half of the 17th c, and in the following century there emerged the prominent oblast landmark in the center of the village: a common wooden St. Michael Orthodox Church (1757). This simple and laconic church is in place here, where Catholicism dominated for over two hundred years. The whole structure is rather touching: projecting central part and lesser lateral parts are topped with lobed cone-shaped domes. The side entrance like a small lateral altar with a span roof resembles a rural porch. Another building for public worship of similar type is the Exaltation-of-the-Cross Church in the Village of Kamyany Brid. These are the oldest samples of wooden architecture in Zhytomyr Oblast.